Nauvoo

I recently had the chance to visit the great city of Nauvoo, Illinois. Where the saints built up a place for themselves to be together without persecution. Thought short lived, the saints built a town that beat out Chicago in size, back in the day. This growth & rise of the saints scared the state & persecution arose & later the saints were forced further westward. 

Right before we (my friend Jen & I) got to Nauvoo the road opened up to the Mississippi River. It was covered in gigantic Lilly pads so I had to pull over & get a picture :)

This does not do those thing justice AT ALL.

When we got there we met up with my In-laws. Brady's dad is the bishop of the YSA ward in Vernal & they were in Nauvoo on their summer activity, which included independence, MO before they arrived in Nauvoo. Since I live so close & have never been, going with the ward seemed like the perfect time. Which proved itself over & over since brady parents know the territory well & got us tickets to all the shows & showed us some cool little spots that air would have most definitely missed if I'd been alone. 

After hello's Jen & I boarded the horse drawn carriage that took us on a 45 minute blast into the past.

As we rode along the trail we were told stories about the areas by one of the senior missionaries. The spirit was amazing as he told us of the saints & their hard work to build Nauvoo.

After that we started touring the town! We walked around to each of the houses & old shops to have guided tours, put on by the many senior missionaries serving in Nauvoo. 

I loved all the old fireplaces. I think I snapped a picture of almost all of them!

There was one home with lots of amazing, hand sewn quilts. People are so talented!

We spend the next few days in Nauvoo. We saw a couple plays & had lots of great experiences! 

After Nauvoo we drove the 30 minutes to Carthage jail, where Joseph Smith was killed. We went on a guided tour through the jail, visiting each room as the tour guide told us a little bit about it. 

After a little lunch Jen & I headed back to St. Louis. I'm so glad I was able to go. The whole experience strengthened my testimony of the saints & Joseph Smith so much. They went through so much because they knew the gospel is true. I can't wait to visit all the other church sites!!